A Wine Journey to Anatolia

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Buzbag organized an event to rediscover the harmony of Anatolian cuisine with wine. Thanks to this event, we had the opportunity to follow the footmarks of wine from Eastern Anatolia to Hittites' earthenwares, from home made wines of Antakya to Buzbag on our tables in Kosebasi Restaurant. As Cuneyt Uygur, Manager of Kayra Wine Center, said, it was not a competition, it was rather a journey and Kosebasi's cuisine and Kayra's Buzbag wine accompanied us in our journey.

Buzbağ Emir-Narince 2010

This was a dinner which provided the proof for arguing against the belief that wine should be consumed along with Italian pasta, with French style foie gras, or with an almost raw but still soft piece of steak. Buzbag has discovered a way to bring people like me (who doesn't like kebap) to a kebap restaurant! They offered delicious Turkish food of Kosebasi together with Buzbag wines along with nice conversation about wine. The following wines were served: Buzbag Beyaz (white), Buzbag Klasik, Buzbag Elazig Okuzgozu, Buzbag Diyarbakir Bogazkere, and Buzbag Rezerv. All of these red wines are made of Okuzgozu (fruity and lively) and Bogazkere (strong taste and tannin) grapes of Elazig and Diyarbakir respectively. These are local grapes that can be used in both blends or variatals. As Cuneyt Uygur mentioned that it was a general belief that wines and food of the same region make good matches. So, it should be a wise choice to drink these wines with Anatolian cuisine.

Buzbag Emir-Narince

The first course was a cheese table offered together with Buzbag Beyaz. This is a very nice refreshing wine with citrus fruit aromas made of Emir and Narince grapes. Its acidity is moderate compared to most of the wines. It is both strong and delicate, as the names of the grapes suggest. It had a great harmony with tulum cheese (a Turkish cheese that is enchased in a skin in production phase). The white and yellow (kasar) cheeses did not match with the wine as much as tulum did.

I was a little surprized when the appetizers were served. I can eat any food with wine at my home, but I didn't expect them to be so assertive to serve gavurdagi, toros, abagannus and cig kofte on a wine event (these are all traditional Turkish food that contain significant amount spices, or at least garlic). I am not really fond of hot spices. Therefore I didn't even try to match cig kofte with any wine. I still give them credit for their courageous offer. The most interesting match for me was between abagannus (an appetizer made of eggplant, garlic and yogurt) and white wine. Buzbag Beyaz made the taste of garlic and yoghurt mildly sour.

Buzbag Klasik

Buzbag Klasik (2008), made of Okuzgozu and Bogazkere, was served together with these appetizers but I saved my expectations from this wine for it's match with the next, warm appetizers. When warm appetizers arrived, I knew that that was going to be a long night. I was almost full already! Buzbag Elazig Okuzgozu was served to our glasses. It is a lievely wine with red fruit and a little pepper aromas and medium body. I think it made the best match with icli kofte (a special kind of meatball with meat, nuts, onion inside and bulghur as a shell) and patlican sogurme (a warm appetizer made of steamed eggplant), which is normally not easy to match with wines. Humus (made of chickpeas and crushed sesame seeds) was much better with Buzbag Klasik.

Then it was Bogazkere's (my favourite) turn. They served Buzbag Diyarbakir Bogazkere together with Tarsusi Kebap and Pideli Saslik (these are kinds of Turkish kebap, the first made of minced meat and the second of pieces of meat). I was thinking that I don't like kebap made of minced meat but I had never tasted Tarsusi Kebap before! I loved it so much I ate all of it in a few seconds together with Bogazkere. Bogazkere's strong tannins resisted the strong and a dense taste of Tarsusi Kebap and maintained balance. Afterwards, they served Şaşlık Kebabı and I had never tasted it before too! It was so soft that I thought Bogazkere's strong taste is too strong for it, but I was wrong. They glided through my throath together softly.

Buzbag Reserv (2006)

In the meantime, the last emtly glass was filled with Buzbag Rezerv (2006). Similar to Buzbag Klasik, it is a blend of Okuzgozu and Bogazkere, but has also been rested in French oak for 24 months, so that Bogazkere's austerity becomes a little milder. It is a strong, bodied, balanced wine. Among chop-rib, kebap with eggplant and shish kebap, the wines best match was with shish kebap.

Lastly, the deserts were served. I have a long distance relationship with deserts, but this doesn't mean that I won't taste them at all. I tasted kunefe, semolina (irmik) with icecream, and pumpkin with icecream and crushed seasam seeds (tahin) respectively. I think kunefe was very good, considering that it didn't make me feel it was too much! Usually, semolina with icecream is very popular especially after too much eating :) but this time the semolina pieces were cold and sticky a little. Pumpkin desert was not as soft as it is usually, but it really melted in my mouth together with tahin and icecream. Therefore, it was my favourite.

Pumpkin desert

I hope that I could at least make you think about, that wine is not something unattainable, not something that is not for "us" but is rather for western countries, ant that Turkish cuisine is compatible with wine. I wish you discover the wines that you like to drink with your favourite food and you share the joy that I try to share with you in this blog.

ChinChin at Kitchenette

We will have the opportunity to order all Doluca wines in glass in Kitchenette restaurants between 2 June - 2 July.

I remember another similar fetival of Doluca when I visited Eskisehir, which is basically a university town in Turkey. All the bars were serving tons of beers to students, but I had the chance of finding a bar who was serving Doluca wines in glass. I ordered one of the red wines, but first, a white wine came. Than, they told me that they didn't have the wine that I ordered. At last, they served me another red wine.

So, this time, I have doubts that really "all" Doluca wines can be found in Kitchenette's. May be they mean that we can order in glass any Doluca wine that is in the menu. We'll see together.

By the way, I don't know what ChinChin means. Could anyone tell me?

A Movie Full of Wine: Sideways

Sideways

For the last two days, I wass pretty dazed because of a little fever and cold that caught me. So, I could not taste any wines, but I watched a nice movie with wine to tell you.

I left work earky yesterday since I wanted to go home and sleep. When I arrived home I realized that a new neighbour was moving and the voices of hammer and borer would not end. I did not try to sleep. Instead, I tried to watch tv, which I never do. After five minutes of trying, I gave up trying to find something to watch and decided to watch a movie that I first watched years ago: Sideways.

I'll try to summarize the move: It is the story of two men, one of them looking for women, the other for wine and silence only. They make a trip to somewhere in California for a few days and we watch their adventures in that trip. There is a lot of wine conversation, vineries and nice scenery to see in the movie. I should tell that there is a special focus on Pinot Noir, as if there are not any other grapesgrown in that area! (aren't there?)

When I first saw this movie years ago, I didn't know what wine is. This time, I knew about wine, but I was ill, so it did not carefully paid attention to details, but only the view of the scenery was enough reason to watch it till the end.

If there are really so many vineries in California, where you can call by and taste so many wines, I will definately go there one day!

p.s. For those who are curious, I feel better today.

Wine & Dine with Isa Bal

Wine & Dine event of Kayra was very special this time. In addition to enjoying an early summer evening in the garden of Mimolett with Kayra' wines and a delicious dinner from Murat Bozok's kitchen, we had Isa Bal and his conversation on wine & dine at our table.

I'm not sure which was more worth to tell you. The modest comments of Isa Bal, or Murat Bozok's low profile presenting his masterpieces as if they were regular dishes. I'm just going to tell you a few things briefly without boring you. 

Firtly, I'd like to mention that I think that anyone who witnessed the harmony of Kayra Vintage Chardonnay with a soup (jerusalem artichoke soup with vanilla) would not have a problem anymore in believing that wine can get along with any kind of food.

After the soup and asparagus salad, I tasted the Foie Gras, which is something highly glorified by French people, but is definitaly not my kind of food. It was too oily for me. (Still, I put it on a piece of brioche -meaning butter-bread, I guess- nicely and took a picture for you.) Similarly, the Hungarian Tokaji, which was included in the menu on Isa Bal's suggestion, was not my kind of wine, it was too sweet for me. However, when I tasted these two together, I can tell you that it was clear to me why sommeliers are important persons. The intense and sweet taste of the wine swept away the strong smell and oily feeling of Foie Gras. This must be what they call harmony!

Isa Bal mentioned that Tokaji did not always have to be so sweet. The wine we drank was a wine made of grapes picked up one by one. On the bottle, the expression 6 puttonyos was written. This means that 1 liter of the wine contains 150 gram sugar. If you happen to buy Tokaji, you may see the expression saying 3, 4, 5, or 6 puttonyos. For instance, 5 puttonyos means that there is 125 gram sugar in 1 Liter of the wine.

Lastly, I'd like to tell you about the main dish of the dinner, a veal steak (antrikot). I'll be s hort and to the point. If that unbelievably soft and artless looking food was a veal meat, what were the things that we had been buying from the butcher and cooking at home?

Without digging in this subject deeper, I am ending my post here wishing to have further dinners at Mimolett with wine and joy.

2. Kanyon Wine Tasting Days

This event was organized in November for the first time. I enjoyed it and also wrote about it here. The second organization of the same event will be on 13, 14 and 15th of May, again in Kanyon Shopping Mall, Istanbul.

This is an event where Turkish wine producers offer their wines for tasting. You may taste wines, attend wine conversations and enjoy your time however you like. You may find the schedule of the event here.

Wine & Dine @ Mimolett

Wine & Dine Degustation Menu

I attended one of the Wine & Dine evenings of Kayra Wine Center together with someone I like very much. The dinner started at 7 pm on a week day and we were late as expected, since we both work on Anatolian side and had to be on European sinde for the event.

We missed the first meal on the menu, Cauliflower Soup and Terra Sauvignon Blanc. When we arrived, Cüneyt Uygur was talking about Kayra Vintage Chardonnay (2009), which was accompanying Risotto with Quail and Pumpkin. If Chardonnay is the queen of the white wine, I think Kayra Vintage Chardonnay can be the queen of Turkish white wines. At least I thought so at that time, but I was starving, so my perceptions could be biased :)

After Risotto, it was Sole and Leona Blurn's turn, but none of them left a memory in my mind. When veal liver and Kayra Vintage Shiraz came to the table, I gave up paying attention to wine & dinner harmony and started enjoying the wine. I am not really fond of offals, but I love red wine and especially Shiraz, and especially this great red wine of the night.

Parfait Pumkin and Carpacio

Kayra Madeira, which was a liquor wine that came to the table together with the desert, was a very interesting wine, but I still continued with Kayra Vintage Shiraz after I tasted it once. Actually it was intersting that I described the wine as interesting and not the desert itself. You see on the picture a pumpkin desert*. Can't you see any pumpkin desert? Don't be so narrow-minded :)

In the meantime, an unbelievably unassuming cook named Görkem - if I'm not wrong - who obviously put an immeasurable effort in everything we tasted, visited our table along with each meal and told us how each of the meals were cooked and what was inside of them (if I did't miss the beginning, I would not have to give you such ambigious information, sorry for that).

It was a lovely and intersting evening, but I have to admit that it is not my kind of thing to talk so much about what we eat and what we drink :) Naturally, I mostly listened to what was being said. If you would like to attend one of these events, I believe they organize similar events every month with a different menu. You may follow their schedule here. If you want to see the menu we tasted, you may click on the title above picture.

First Annual In Pursuit of Flavor Wine and Cheese Event

Yes, the title means exactly what you've understood from it. This event has really been organized and realized!

The night connecting last Saturday to Sunday, we have organized a tasting event with our friends. I would like to mention proudly that this was Mehves's idea, not mine. I concluded from this that I managed to leave a good print at least on someone and I was therefore very happy :)

The idea was that everyone brings cheese and wine and we taste them - and of course drink them- together at our place. Mehves brought gouda and fume cheeses along with DLC Grenache. Nese and Cagri brought lots of nuts and chips, mihalic cheese and surprisingly Buyulubag Adakarasi. I was very surprised, because Nese's initial approach was "is it ok if I bring tequila?", so I did not expect them to know anything about this rare kind of grape and this wine's  producer. Then it appeared to me that it was actually Cagri's idea anyway. Next time, we expect Cargi to bring one of the wines produced by his father :) In return for this, I promise that I will think about his question "why wine and cheese", to which I could not give any response this time.

As host, we offered Vinkara Doruk Bogazkere, sepet (basket) cheese, dil peyniri and taze kaşar (all Turkish cheese). Actually I wanted to open a bottle of Umurbey Chardonnay, but when I suggested this at the beginning of the night, no one seemed to be interested in it, so I did not insist on it. I regretted this later though, since all of the wines on the table were wines with moderate acidity, moderate tannins (except from bogazkere), and moderate bodies, there was no considerable difference in their harmony with the cheeses. I wish I could show the difference to my friends with a highly acidic white wine.

It was a lovely evening -actually a lovely night - with a lot of wine and long lasting (in a good sense) conversations. Everyone showed to the wines and cheeses the respect that they deserved :) My favorites were Buyulubag Adakarası among the wines, and fume cheese among the cheeses. I admint gouda was also not bad at all.

Thanks to Mehves, as she took very nice pictures that you'll see in this blog from now on.

Thanks to everyone who attended this nice event! I wish that this becomes a traditional event that we repeat every year as I mentioned in the title of this post. The tasting notes are coming soon.

Kayra Vintage by the glass

Kayra has a collection called Vintage. This collection's wines are described as "Kayra's collection serial" on their website. I have one of them at home, but have not tasted it yet. I bought it once upon a time, when I had no idea about Kayra Vintage. I bought it for a special occasion, because the bottle's design reveals that this wine is special. Anyway, we drank another wine at that special occasion and this one is still waiting to be tasted.

I'd like to share an announcement about this collection of wines. There will be a special campaign between 17-31 December in certain restaurants in Istanbul. You will be able to order the wines of this collection by the glass in those restaurants. I doubt that you may normally have the chance to order any of these wines by the glass. That's why I think it may be worth the take this chance.

The wines that you may order during this campaign are: Kayra Vintage Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Kayra Vintage Merlot 2008, Kayra Vintage Boğazkere 2008, Kayra Vintage Shiraz 2009, Kayra Vintage Öküzgözü 2007 single vineyard, and Kayra Vintage Chardonnay 2009.

The places where you can order these wines: El Besso, Fratelli la Bufala, Park Şamdan, Urza, Zazie, Nusr-et, Obika, Midpoint, Beymen Brasserie, Mavi Balık, Happily Ever After, Oben Şarap Evi, Lacivert, Bistro 33, CKM Hayal Kahvesi, Antochia, Smyrna, Kahvedan, Susam, Develi Restoran Levent, Develi Restoran Samatya, Pano Şarap Evi.

Wine Tasting @ Kanyon

Kanyon - Kerem Görsev is playing

I had the chance to attend the wine tasting days in Kanyon Shopping Mall in the last day of the organization. On the same day, I also met two different groups of my friends and I even managed to shop for a few small things and I did all of this in Kanyon. So, I'm very proud of my organizational capability :) I had a very lovely day. I also feel like a did some charity since I dragged some of my friends to the wine tasting organization.

When I arrived Kanyon around 11:30 - 12:00, Kerem Gorsev was rehearsing and the warm atmosphere backed by the music was a nice warm up for me. I like even the rehearsal of piano music. The wines started to appear on the stands around 13:00, but we had to wait until 15:00 for tasting, until the end of the concert. Then it was almost a hurray! There was a serious crowd willing to taste wines which I certainly did not expect to see.

I went to Doluca's place first with the intention to taste Karma Chardonney Narince, their new white wine, and to introduce it to my firends, but they only had Doluca Antik, one of their cheapest and oldest wine. I realize now that I did not ask them why they did so. Then I leaned towards Pamukkale but they said they runned out of Anfora Shiraz Reserve, which is one of their best as far as I heard. In fact, they had one on the stand, but I gues it was part of the decoration so they did not open that one.

Umurbey Wines

I tasted so many wines from Diren, Idol, Umurbey, Urla, Likya, Sevilen, Vinkara, Yucel, Silent Valley, and Buyulubag that I can't really say how many. I spent most of my time with Idol, Sevilen, Umurbey and Buyulubag. This may be due to their attention and patience to my questions rather then their wines :) A lot of times I was offered with rose wines first, I guess their favorites are rose in these days. I admit that I tasted Idol's Smyrna Shiraz-Grenache at my own will, simply because I wondered how Granache was like. Then I tasted Smyrna Shiraz and liked them both.

Umurbey Rezerv 2007, Urla Nero D`Avola – Urla Karası, Buyulubag Adakarasi, Buyulubag Shah, Sevilen Centum Syrah, Sevilen Majestik, Sevilen "900" Petit Verdot are other wines that left a positive impression on my mind. I may have drunk Sevilen wines for the first time and I want to make it up to myself because they have really nice wines. After I anchored on their stand and tried 3-4 wines consecutively, I fortunately remembered that alcohol does not stand still in the body as it does in the bottle and I took a break. I certainly do not blame myself for having tried too much wine in a short time. I think the organizators are to blame since they did not put any bins for spitting after tasting.

Perran Aribal from Anatolian Vineyards was offering solution tasting to demonstrate the differences between the impacts of French oak, American oak and no oak (I hope I'm explaining it correctly). This was the most interesting part of the organization for me.

Sevilen and their indefinite choices

Actually, it is not my stlyle to taste wines in such a crowded place. I have difficulties in concentrating and after a few glasses of wine (even though they poured very little since the aim was tasting), it gets more difficult to notice the differences between the wines. Therefore, I preferred to enjoy what I was having once I figured out that I could not focus on the details anymore :) That's way I can't offer you detailed tasting notes. I already mentioned the wines that I rememeber, which I also liked.

I like Urla since they produce wines from Urla Karasi, Silent Valley since their grapes are produced in Bodrum and since their wines are new (they don't have their own production facilities yet, they are now producing with guidance of Corvus), Buyulubag since their grapes are produced in Avsa Island and since they use Adakarasi which is an authentic grape. There were of course reasons for which I liked the others, but I already forgot most of them. I better try them again one by one, soon.

Kanyon Wine Tasting Days

There is a wine tasting organization in Kanyon, İstanbul between 25-28 November. You may see the details here. Don't get trapped by the name "wine tasting". There will be more than just wine tasting, such as concerts, seminars etc. You may participate in those seminars, walk around in Kanyon, and taste a little wine and colour your day if you wish. I am excited hoping to taste a few wines for the first time in the same day. I hope I'll be there.

Wine Tasting in 5 Steps

I attended a wine tasting seminar recently. It was the best wine experiance I had recently. It was an introduction to wine tasting, which anyone who likes to drink wine can enjoy.

I guess there are many institutions that organize seminars like this. I just chosed this one only for practical reasons (its date was suitable for me). It was Kayra Wine Center's Wine Tasting Seminar in 5 Steps. I had to leave the office a little earlier than normally, but it was worth it.

I have to admint the the content of the seminar was exceeding my expectations. As it was my first time in such a seminar, I was expecting answers to my simple questions like "what should I look for in the glass?", " could I ever smell those aromas people keep telling about like flawor or sweaty horse!" or " what is a wine with full body?". I found more than my answers in this seminar, it was like receiving a desert with icecream while expecting only a single desert :)

In summary, I could say that I learned how every single part of a grape contributes to the wine, what are the differences between production and consumption of different kinds of wines, what I should look for when I'm tasting wine and even which food is compatible with the wines that we tasted there.


It was important to me to learn that high acidity bothers me a little and that lots of tannins do not bother me at all. I even like tannins. While I could only smell  a little fruity and oaky aromas from a wine, other people managed to smell blackpepper, plum, strawberry, mineral etc. This made me a little sad, because I thought that I had a strong nose. I always notice people from their parfumes and I always notice if someone around has used lemon cologne even if they had it hours ago (because I hate the smell of lemon cologne. However, I can't understand how one can smell moldy carton or sweaty horse when tasting a wine! I comfort myself sayin that everything is possible with enough time and experience. I just need to be patient.